Police use tattoos to identify sex assault suspect

PELHAM - An Allenstown man was arrested Thursday by Pelham police on sexual assault charges after his alleged victim was able to identify him by his tattoos, police said.

A woman on Monday reported that a man, later identified as Walter W. Collier, 34, tried to sexually assault her after a date.

She was able to fight him off and call 911, police said in a release.

She said Collier had given her a false name, but during the date referred to himself as "Walter" and mentioned that he was from Allenstown.

"The female was able to provide a detailed description of tattoos that the male has on his body. Based on those tattoos, the Allenstown Detective Bureau immediately identified the suspect as" Collier, the release said.

Collier is a registered sex offender, having been convicted in 1999 of felony sexual assault against a victim younger than 13 years old and criminal restraint of a victim younger than 18 years old.

He is scheduled to appear in Derry District Court at 8:30 a.m. Friday.